sRGB vs Adobe RGB: which should you deliver?

Canon puts it simply: "The range of reproducible colors is called the 'color space.'" sRGB is the standard default, published as IEC 61966-2-1. The W3C's sRGB page describes it as "Based on a calibrated colorimetric RGB color space well suited to Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitors, television, scanners, digital cameras, and printing systems".

Adobe RGB (1998) covers more colors; Nikon describes it as having "a broader gamut of colors" than sRGB. Adobe says "The Adobe RGB (1998) profile has been widely adopted as a working space because it provides a relatively large and balanced color gamut that can be easily repurposed for reproduction on a variety of devices."

Clients open a gallery in a web browser, on whatever phone or computer they have. On the web, the W3C notes, an image without a profile "is assumed to be in the sRGB color space", and its advice is that "Web page creators should publish content in sRGB."

Camera makers say the same. Canon: "For normal shooting, sRGB is recommended." Nikon: "sRGB is recommended for general-purpose printing and display." Nikon adds that "For accurate color reproduction, Adobe RGB pictures require applications, displays, and printers that support color management." You can't control which apps your client uses, so sRGB is the space that looks as intended in the most places.

Some labs only want sRGB. Mpix says "sRGB is the working space for all our photographic printers" and asks: "Please save your files in sRGB color space in 8-bit color, not 16-bit, to achieve the best print results. Also, please do NOT embed any profiles."

Adobe RGB is for print work where color is managed end to end. Canon says it "is mainly used for commercial printing and other professional applications", and Nikon calls it "a better choice for professional publication and commercial printing". For capture, Adobe's printing guide says "If your digital camera offers a choice of profiles, Adobe recommends that you select Adobe RGB. Otherwise, use sRGB (which is the default for most cameras)."

Some labs take it: WHCC asks for files tagged with an RGB color profile and says "P3, Adobe RGB, and sRGB are all great options", and Bay Photo wants files in "sRGB or Adobe RGB color embedded". The word that matters is embedded. Canon's EOS R6 Mark II manual notes that for Adobe RGB images shot in camera, "The ICC profile is not appended."

Every photo in a shoots.page gallery gets a 480 px thumbnail and a JPEG preview up to 2000 px on the long edge. Both are sRGB with an embedded sRGB ICC profile, and camera metadata (EXIF) is stripped. If the file you upload has an embedded ICC profile, such as Adobe RGB, the preview is color-converted to sRGB with color management, not just relabeled. A file with no embedded profile is treated as sRGB and not converted, and a file with a damaged ICC profile fails processing.

Downloads follow the same split. A client's JPEG download is the 2000 px sRGB preview. The Originals download is the exact file you uploaded, byte for byte, so an Adobe RGB original keeps its Adobe RGB profile. RAW photos are rendered to sRGB, and the full-size JPEG a client gets for a RAW photo is sRGB at quality 92 with the profile embedded.

One catch: an Adobe RGB JPEG straight from a camera that doesn't embed the profile is treated as sRGB, so its colors look flatter and less saturated than intended. Canon warns that an in-camera Adobe RGB image "will look very subdued" and needs processing. Export it to sRGB with the profile embedded and the gallery shows it as you edited it.

Export client sets in sRGB with the profile embedded. In Lightroom Classic, the Color Space export setting "Converts the photos to sRGB, HDR color space, AdobeRGB, or ProPhoto RGB color space and tags the photos with the color profile"; the Lightroom export guide covers the rest. If a commercial printer or lab asks for Adobe RGB, export a separate tagged Adobe RGB version for them, and tell clients printing at home or through a consumer lab to use the sRGB files.

W3C: A Standard Default Color Space for the Internet, sRGB. Adobe: Adobe RGB (1998), Color-managing documents for printing and Lightroom Classic export settings. Canon: EOS R6 Mark II color space and How to select processing parameters on the EOS Digital Rebel. Nikon: Z8 color space. Mpix: File preparation help. WHCC: Accepted file types. Bay Photo: Accepted image file formats. Checked 29 October 2026.